A three-year-old died and five other people were taken to a trauma center in Knoxville after a two-vehicle crash in Oak Ridge at Emory Valley Road and Lafayette Drive on Friday evening, Jan. 13, 2017. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)
Note: This story was last updated at 1 p.m. Jan 16.
A three-year-old died and five other people were taken to a trauma center in Knoxville after a serious crash in Oak Ridge on Friday evening, authorities said.
The fatal two-vehicle crash involved 11 people. It was reported at about 5:15 p.m. Friday at Emory Valley Road and Lafayette Drive.
Those taken by ambulance to the University of Tennessee Medical Center in Knoxville, a Level 1 Trauma Center, were four adults and two children. One of those children is the three-year-old who died (the child was initially reported to be four). The four adults and two children were all in one vehicle, an older model dark-colored or black sport utility vehicle, or SUV.
Five people in a second vehicle—four adults and one child—were reported to not have injuries, according to the City of Oak Ridge.
The intersection was closed for about four hours as police investigated. The cause of the crash wasn’t immediately clear. The names and ages of the other people involved in the crash haven’t been released yet.
The SUV appeared to have been going north on Lafayette Drive at the time of the crash. It wasn’t clear if the second vehicle, a newer silver Volkswagen sedan, was going south or turning left from the southbound lanes onto Emory Valley Road.
The SUV ended up at the base of a stoplight pole on the northeast corner of the intersection, near the Bristol Park Apartments. Four people were entrapped but not pinned, said David Harrington, Oak Ridge Fire Department battalion chief.
No one was ejected, Harrington said.
It’s not clear if everyone in the vehicle was restrained. Oak Ridge Police Chief Jim Akagi said the second child who was taken to UT Medical Center was in a car seat, but it’s not clear yet if the three-year-old who died was.
Harrington said it was considered a mass casualty event due to the number of patients. Two city ambulances responded, and so did four ambulances from Anderson County EMS.
A crash reconstruction team from the Clinton Police Department responded to help investigate the crash.
A UT Lifestar medical helicopter was unable to respond because of the weather.
The SUV was heavily damaged, especially on its front end. Damage to the other vehicle, the Volkswagen sedan, appeared to be less significant.
People who live in the Woodland neighborhood said the crash was loud. It was heard from several blocks away. The crash appeared severe enough that the stoplights on the metal pole where the SUV stopped were twisted at an angle.
The roadway re-opened at about 9:15 p.m. Friday.
On Saturday, Sarah Self, spokesperson for the City of Oak Ridge, said one of the adult passengers from the SUV had been released from UT Medical Center. The condition of the other patients (three adults and one child) was not available.
More information will be added as it becomes available.
Oak Ridge resident Kevin Rice helped us monitor scanner traffic on this call. We thank him for his help.
The Oak Ridge Fire Department and Oak Ridge Police Department help rescue four people entrapped in an SUV involved in a fatal two-vehicle crash at Emory Valley Road and Lafayette Drive on Friday evening, Jan. 13, 2017. A three-year-old died, and five other people were injured. The back of a Volkswagen sedan involved in the crash is pictured at right. The SUV is on the northeast corner of the intersection, near Bristol Park Apartments. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)
A Clinton Police Department crash reconstruction team helps the Oak Ridge Police Department investigate a two-vehicle crash that injured five people and killed a three-year-old at the intersection of Emory Valley Road and Lafayette Drive on Friday evening, Jan. 13, 2017. A Volkswagen sedan involved in the crash is at center, just to the right of the pop-up tent, angled toward Emory Valley Road, and an SUV involved in the crash is at the base of the stoplight pole at left, on the northeast side of the intersection. The picture was taken facing southeast, toward ATC Nuclear. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)
Authorities said the SUV pictured at the stoplight pole at left above was going north on Lafayette Drive, and the Volkswagen was either driving south or turning left from the southbound lanes of Lafayette Drive onto eastbound Emory Valley Road at the time of a fatal two-vehicle crash on Friday evening, Jan. 13, 2017. Five people in the SUV were injured, and a three-year-old child died. This picture was taken facing northeast, toward Bristol Park Apartments. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)
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Tracy Powers says
I wish the media would stop posting pictures of crash sites where someone has lost their life.
Mark Caldwell says
I wish people would drive slower and stop at red lights. I also wish children are all placed in car seats while in a moving automobile.